Chapter 183: Chapter 183: Quickly Throw It Away Chapter 183: Chapter 183: Quickly Throw It Away Big Bull led Xuexue, walking through the village, to the creek not far from the village entrance.
“Wife, look, it’s this very creek, the soil beneath is teeming with mudfish, there’s so many,” Big Bull excitedly pointed at the creek ahead, grinning foolishly as he spoke.
Upon seeing it, Xuexue noticed that although the soil in the creek was dry, it was still quite moist on the surface. So, she picked up the iron shovel she had brought along and stepped hard on it, burying the shovel into the soil. Then, with a forceful motion of her arms, she scooped up a shovel full of mud.
Xuexue then used her hands to part the soil and saw, indeed, many mudfish were hidden within the mud; as soon as she disturbed the soil, the mudfish began wriggling and jumping about.
Don’t look down on these little creatures; mudfish are extremely resilient. As long as there’s soil and water, they can survive, and their mortality rate is very low.
It was just past the New Year, and she had been fretting about not making much money by gathering river snails. And now, opportunity had presented itself. Although the creek wasn’t long, if they turned the soil over completely, they could dig up quite a few mudfish.
“Big Bull, hurry home and bring back two wooden buckets,” Xuexue excitedly scratched at the soil on the ground.
“Okay!” Big Bull replied, ready to run back.
“Hold on.” As if remembering something, Xuexue lifted her head and added, “Fill the buckets with a bit of water, got it?”
“Why should we put water in them?” Big Bull scratched his head, showing his confusion.
“Are you dumb? Without water, the mudfish will die, won’t they?”
“Isn’t it the same now? They have no water, yet aren’t they still jumping around?” Big Bull said, puzzled as he watched the lively mudfish that Xuexue had pulled out of the soil.
“That’s because they are wrapped in moist soil, of course they can live, but once they’re out of the soil, they need water to survive, or else they’ll die, get it?”
“Then hurry up and go,” Xuexue said, then bent down to her work again.
Upon hearing her words, Big Bull turned and quickly left, returning before long with two wooden buckets.
The two of them turned the soil and collected mudfish, thoroughly enjoying themselves.
Big Bull was strong and could turn up dozens of shovelfuls of soil, after which he and Xuexue would go through the mud to separate out the mudfish.
“Wow! Wife, look, this mudfish is so big!” Suddenly, an exclamation from Big Bull rang out.
Xuexue, who was busy picking through mudfish, glanced up without thinking and got quite a scare, dropping the mudfish in her hands, standing up, and shouting in panic, “Big Bull, quick, throw it away, it’s a snake, it’s a snake!”
Big Bull was utterly clueless, then he laughed and said, “Wife, look, such a big mudfish!”
“It’s a snake, it’s a snake, not a mudfish, throw it away quickly!” Xuexue almost roared in her urgency, was this guy stupid? Although the mudfish here were fat and large, there was a very clear difference from a snake.
At that moment, Big Bull finally understood, his body involuntarily shivered, and with a swift motion of his arm, he flung the long snake with black spots away from him, his mouth letting out an uncontrolled cry of alarm, “Ah…! A snake…!”
Xuexue came forward and embraced him, patting his shoulder gently, comforting him softly, “Don’t be scared, Big Bull. It’s okay, it’s okay.”
“Wife, I got so scared?” Big Bull clung to Xuexue, his whole body trembling. Just a moment ago, he had seen a small hole by the creek and had curiously dug at it, only to end up pulling out a snake. He’d thought it was a mudfish and was about to show Xuexue, hoping she would praise him for catching such a big mudfish. Little did he know, it was a snake, and it scared him terribly.